Yesterday I took what I guess was a 3 or 4km hike up a slippery mountain slope in search of a waterfall. There were no signs just a very narrow path used by off-road motorcycles which the locals use to haul down fruit. However I went late in the afternoon so the motocross fruit farmers had already gone home for the day and there was nobody in the mountain forest and I couldn’t get a phone signal. Although it was only a short hike from 3G and the rest of civilization you could really feel the disconnect. After a bath in what was probably the coldest water I’ve ever experienced in Southeast Asia I headed back just before it got dark to continue working on some work stuff.

As pristine as my little hike sounds the mountain had a decent amount of litter which I imagine was left primarily by the farmers and fruit transporters since few tourists make that hike. Most of it was in the form of plastic bags used to wrap around chempedaks to keep squirrels from eating them. Last week I spent an hour or so collecting such bags in another mountainside chempedak orchard. It’s unfortunate how many of the locals and the tourists have such little respect for the amazing nature around here and elsewhere. A few days ago I also picked up about 30 or so plastic bottles along what was less than a 2km stretch of road, terrible. Please don’t create unnecessary trash, e.g., plastic shopping bags, and be sure to properly dispose of any trash you do create.